


in our travels, we found our roads

by ticoyuu



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
Genre: M/M, no onesided pining in my fics no siree, this is angst free territory check yours at the gate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-09 03:47:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14708504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ticoyuu/pseuds/ticoyuu
Summary: in a timeline without yamato, hibiki rallies his friends to fight back arcturus. a being who shouldn't exist at all arrives during this third cycle, all sparks and spitfire that's as much a burning allure as it is a wall.on his second apocalypse, hibiki is drawn to the demon king abel like a moth to a flame.





	in our travels, we found our roads

**Author's Note:**

> fic inspired by [dear fellow traveler](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUw1e7vvSRY) which is great and everyone should listen to it at least once. the abel in this is borrowed from [radi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/habenaria_radiata/pseuds/habenaria_radiata) who is also totally awesome.

in a timeline without yamato, hibiki rallies his friends to fight back arcturus. a being who shouldn't exist at all arrives during this third cycle, all sparks and spitfire that's as much a burning allure as it is a wall.

on his second apocalypse, hibiki is drawn to the demon king abel like a moth to a flame.

their mutual attraction blazes bright and brief, like fireworks. abel's slender shoulders from behind always seem strong; his mouth slashes open when he smiles with teeth --beastly, predatory, awe-inspiring-- at hibiki's enemies. when he finally shares the story of the universe he lost, the worlds he's seen in his travels, hibiki sees him set to a backdrop of a burning tokyo --sat in a loose curve, front view, cheek leaned against his palm-- and thinks of how even the strongest predators feel fear and pain.

he thinks of yamato's face twisted, harshly baring his teeth at his friends and gritting out that he'd wake hibiki up, and wonders if abel is remembering something similar.

when it's over, their blazing summer bonfire infatuation settles into a quiet ember. it never extinguishes, but abel has places he's called to, worlds he's never seen that he's drawn to return to. he's hit hard with wanderlust, but hibiki's home has always been with yamato. they live their lifetimes in the freed universe, retaken every mile by their own human efforts.

when hibiki was sixty and yamato fifty-nine, yamato passed the mantle of chief to makoto and fumi's daughter; she'd lead the new JP's in an optimistic world that no longer required its hidden militant presence. in their mid seventies, yamato fell stepping in for an emergency he shouldn't have been near. hibiki, brittle-boned and cane-bound, thought yamato, tall, straight-backed and far too frail with a JP's longcoat blowing around his legs, would not have wanted any other death. outside of his control, hibiki's hands shook as he tugged yamato's old gloves over his fingers. they'd always been too big for his hands. abel had left something with him decades back; here, it exploded to life.

hibiki passed the week after. for all the jokes he made about heart attacks and strokes, there was no death --life-- he'd be prouder of than what he'd had, ensuring everyone's future. abel appeared then, the same sparks as before --lightning, ice, fire; denebola, spica, arcturus-- as the backdrop for his arrival. this time, hibiki didn't feel the heat or burning.

 _"hey, hibiki."_ curved mouth, hint of teeth. _"those fireworks were fucking rad."_

in the end, the moth that had been drawn to open flame danced with fiery wings and at the end of its life, emerged as a phoenix.


End file.
